Super typhoon to hit southeast Asia

Hong Kong, Sept. 12: A super typhoon is barreling down on southeast Asia, with Hong Kong and Macau square in its path.

Mangkhut, known as Super Typhoon Ompong in the Philippines, is a category 5 Atlantic hurricane, with winds of at least 252 km per hour.

The storm is expected to strengthen further in the next 24 to 48 hours, before it weakens slightly to a category 4 equivalent storm as it approaches the the Luzon island in Philippines.

The Global Disaster Alert and Coordination System said up to 43.3 million people could be affected by the storm in the Philippines and southern China.

Over three million people live in Luzon. The Pearl River Delta region, which includes Hong Kong and Macau, is among the most densely populated in the world.

While Mangkhut is not expected to cause similar destruction, Philippines authorities warned it could cause around $ 250 million in damages to rice and corn crops.

The storm’s current path has it passing through the Luzon Strait between the Philippines and southern Taiwan, before continuing on to Hong Kong and Macau. Those cities will bear the brunt of the storm, which is due to make landfall in southern China early on Monday morning.

According to a projection

of the storm’s path by the Hong Kong Observatory ( HKO), it will pass within 80 km of Hong Kong, and 160 km of Macau on Sunday, during which wind speeds are expected to be up to 220 km per hour equivalent to a category 4 hurricane.

Multiple Hong Kong airlines, including flag carrier Cathay Pacific, have announced they will waive charges for rebooking or re- routing flights arriving or departing the city during the worst of the storm. A senior scientific officer at the Hong Kong Observatory said Mangkhut was “expected to pose a considerable threat to the coast of Guangdong” in southern China and would bring gale force winds to Hong Kong.